You should know—may Allah enable you to achieve what is dear and pleasing to Him!-that Allah (Exalted is He) first created the spirit of Muhammad (Allah blesshim and give him peace) from the light of His Beauty.
As Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) has told us:
I created the spirit of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) from the light of My countenance.
As the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said:
The first thing that Allah created was my spirit [ruh]. The first thing that Allah created was my light [nur]. The first thing that Allah created was the pen [qalam]. The first thing that Allah created was the intellect ['aql].
This means that they are all one thing, that being the Muhammadan Reality [al-Haqiqat al-Muhammadiyya], but it is called a "light [nur]" because it is pure and unclouded by the darknesses of Majesty. As Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has said:
There has now come to you from Allah
qad ja'a-kum mina 'llahi
a Light, and a clear Book.
Nurun wa Kitabun mubin. (5:15)
It is also called an "intellect ['aql]," because it comprehends universal truths [kulliyyat]. It is also called a "pen [qalam]," because it is an instrument for the transmission of knowledge, just as the pen is an instrument in the realm of letters [of the alphabet].
The Muhammadan spirit is thus the quintessence of all entities,the first of all beings and the origin of them all.
As he has said (blessing and peace be upon him):
I am from Allah and the believers are from me.
Allah created all the spirits from him in the realm of Divinity [Lahut], and in the finest real formation. "Muhammad" is the name of all human beings in that realm, and he is the original home.
Then, when four thousand years had passed, Allah created the Heavenly Throne ['Arsh] from the light of the eye of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), and from the Heavenly Throne He created the rest of existing entities. Then He reduced the spirits to the lowest level of existence, meaning the physical bodies. As Allah (Exalted is He) has said: